Summary

Chapter 5, the beginning of Part Two, describes the Agricultural Revolution. Approximately 10,000 years ago, sapiens began manipulating plants and animals on a large scale. Through the process of domestication, they gradually selected species that were ideal for cultivation and further refined them through selective breeding. This process occurred independently in several locations on Earth. The resulting crops and livestock still serve as the primary source of sapien diet. While agriculture created a far more abundant food source, Harari argues that it was ultimately detrimental to those who practiced it. By reducing their varied diet to a few staple crops, sapiens became less healthy and more susceptible to natural events like floods and droughts. They spent more of their time working than foragers did and contracted more diseases because of the larger population groups agriculture could support. Additionally, the practice encouraged violent fights over territory...